It is a measure of France’s confusion about Islam and its own Muslim citizens that in the political furor here over “banning the burqa,” as the argument goes, the garment at issue is not really the burqa at all, but the niqab.
Two veiled Muslim women carrying the French flag during a march against Islamophobia and in favour of the veil in schools, in Paris in 2004.
A burqa is the all-enveloping cloak, often blue, with a woven grill over the eyes, that many Afghan women wear, and it is almost never seen in France. The niqab, often black, leaves the eyes uncovered.
Still, a movement against it that started with a Communist mayor near Lyon has gotten traction within France’s ruling center-right party, which claims to be defending French values, and among many on the left, who say they are defending women’s rights. A parliamentary commission will soon meet to investigate whether to ban the burqa — in other words, any cloak that covers most of the face.
Immigrants should respect the culture of the country to which they move. In Western nations, going out in public with the face covered is considered impolite and threatening. Muslim women living in Western nations should cover their hair, if they choose, but not their faces. (I know Muslim women in Egypt who agree with me; we had a discussion of this a few weeks ago. These women will cross the street to avoid a woman in a niqab; it’s a sign of radical Islam, and, they say, you have no way to know who’s under the covering.)
Katherine is right on the mark. In the West it is the bandit who covers the face. I worked in Egypt some years ago with a woman who had a PhD in chemistry from a university in the UK. She was Muslim, but greatly enjoyed the option of Western nation dress that was available to her in Egypt. She had offers to work in Saudi Arabia for a ten-fold greater salary, but refused to go there due to the way she would have to dress and the treatment she would receive as a woman. I know she was always worried about the possibility of reversion of womens’ rights in Egypt.
When we go to other countries we must also be careful to respect their customs. In the early 60’s I saw women wearing shorts and bare headed going into cathedrals and shrines in Italy. It was totally inappropriate even though it would have been fine for them to wear far less at the beach. At that time the locals called them “the ugly Americans.”
There are times when native, overseas dress is a great blessing to see here. The church where we last lived was near DC and had a large attendance from the African legations. What a visual treat it was to worship with them when they wore their beautiful African finery.
CanaAnglican, it’s worse here now than it was some years ago. There are more and more niqabs on the street. Naturally, I don’t know personally any of the women inside them, since they won’t associate with me, but the people I do know, whether Muslim or Copt, are afraid for the future here and want to move to the US.
Katherine, I knew it was getting worse, but I did not know how much. I am sorry to hear that it has come to the point where people are afraid for the future of their own country and wish to get out. That is no way to live. I will continue to pray for all the people of Egypt.
Steven Runcimann once wrote about how the complete covering of women affected their morals. He said it was very convenient in Turkey for women to go to the hairdresser all shrouded, and their lover would come in by the alley door. A suspicious husband watching the front door would never know just who was going in or leaving as all the shrouds looked pretty much the same. I’m sure that never happens nowadays.